UNDP in Viet Nam

Helping women on road to National Assembly

28 Mar 2002

Ha Noi
- With the upcoming elections of the National Assembly in May 2002, the
National Committee for the Advancement of Women, with the financial
support of UNDP and the Netherlands, is providing support to first time
women candidates, from the 61 provinces, in their preparation for the
elections.

Six workshops in 5 provinces/cities including Ha Noi and Ho Chi
Minh city are designed to empower women candidates to deepen their
understanding of the elections process and to identify concrete
strategies to increase their chances of success. Topics discussed among
the women candidates include, among other, leadership and management
skills, presentation skills, stakeholder analysis, electoral law,
negotiation and gender issues.

"This activity has a great
significance as one of the important objectives of the Party and State
of Vietnam in the forthcoming National Assembly Tenure is to increase
women deputies from 26,22% to over 30%", said Mme Ha Thi Khiet,
president of the Vietnam Women's Union during the opening of the
workshop held in Ha Noi. The ultimate goal is to improve the gender
balance in the National Assembly.

Mr. Jordan Ryan, the UNDP
Resident Representative noted, "Women must participate in decisions
affecting their lives and the lives of their families and country. In
UNDP, we believe that women as leaders can bring new and different
perspectives to the process of change and development." Ryan stressed
that "by providing gender awareness training for women candidates, it is
expected that once elected, the women parliamentarians will positively
influence policy formulation and decision making to foster greater
gender equality."

In addition to be elected, women deputies
should raise their voice so that women's concerns can be heard,
emphasised Mme Ha Thi Khiet.

The rate of women in the Vietnamese
parliament is the highest rate (26.2%) for the Asian region. However,
ensuring women are involved in decision-making processes from communes
to the national level, remains a challenge, especially for ethnic
minority and rural women who are most isolated from decision-making
processes. Heavy workload is one factor constraining women from
participating in collective consultations (e.g village meetings) and
decision-making bodies. In rural Viet Nam women are working about
sixteen to eighteen hours per day; on average, about six to eight hours
longer than men per day.

Promoting first time women candidates
to the National Assembly is therefore one way of promoting the
advancement of women and gender equality. Gender equality aims to
ensure that women have equal rights and equal access as men to
resources and to decision-making.